Acquisition of Computer Controlled Scanning Electron Microscope for Powder Characterization

Additive manufacturing (AM) offers the ability to produce critical components and new designs to meet the needs of the U.S. Navy, in a timely and efficient manner. At the heart of most metal AM processes is a powder feedstock, the basic building block used to fabricate those components and designs. The ability to analyze those powder feedstocks on the individual particle level is key to ensuring the quality of the source powder, to understand the impact that the AM process has upon those powders, and the effect that the powder use and reuse has on the performance of the produced components. With numerous AM systems either installed in DoD facilities or planned for procurement, our need to understand the fundamental building blocks of additively manufactured components and the impact that the powder has on those machines is of vital importance. The proposed computer controlled scanning Electron Microscope for Particulate Materials (EMPM) system would provide the ability to analyze the powders that are used throughout CIMP-3D, characterizing them at their basic level, determining size, morphology, and chemical composition, with the ability to track the changes that occur during their use. The system would reside within the Center for Innovative Materials Processing through Direct Digital Deposition (CIMP-3D) at the Pennsylvania State University. CIMP-3D is a world-class resource for the advancement, development, and implementation of AM technology for critical applications. Its assemblage of highly technical talent drives a continuum of activities in AM that spans basic research through process development and product implementation. The proposed system would provide a fundamental analysis tool for the numerous AM systems at CIMP-3D that employ powder as a feedstock, providing the ability to evaluate powders at all stages of the build process and to develop new materials systems and with tailored processing parameters to meet the needs of the U.S. Navy for AM technology. Researchers, as well as undergraduate and graduate students, will directly benefit from access to this advanced AM technology in a range of existing and new research programs.